Manual or knee operable effect selector system in electronic musical instrument



March 1970 KATSUTOSHI HOSHINO 3,499,094

MANUAL'OR KNEE OPERABLE EFFECT SELECTOR SYSTEM IN ELECTRONIC' MUSICAL INSTRUMENT Filed April 11. 1967 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 FIG. I

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FIL RS @REVERBERATION CIRCUIT United States Patent 3,499,094 MANUAL OR KNEE OPERABLE EFFECT SELECTOR SYSTEM IN ELECTRONIC MUSICAL INSTRUMENT Katsutoshi Hoshino, Toyohashi-shi, Japan, assignor to Nippon Gakki Seizo Kabushiki Kaisha, Shizuoka-ken, Japan, a joint-stock company of Japan Filed Apr. 11, 1967, Ser. No. 630,070 Claims priority, application Japan, Apr. 19, 1966, ll/24,747 Int. Cl. G10l1 1/02, 1/04 US. Cl. 84-125 5 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE This invention relates to improvements in musical effect selector systems in electronic musical instruments.

In general, electronic musical instruments have the desirable characteristic of being rich in musical effects in addition to being capable of rendering tone colors or voices of great variety. For this very reason, however, the parts of such an instrument which must be manipulatively operated by the player are numerous, whereby the player is constantly under the pressure of intense activity.

Particularly in the case of an electronic organ, since there are ordinarily two manual keyboards and a pedal keyboard, both hands and both feet are used to play the instrument, the manual keyboards being played with the two hands, the pedal keyboard being played with left foot, and the right foot being used to operate an expression control. In addition, many musical effects as, for example, a vibrato effect, tremolo effect, sustain effect, and reverberation effect, are required, and these effects are generally controlled by respective switches mounted on a panel together with tone color stops.

The mounting of these switches on the panel, however, necessitates the removal of a hand from its keyboard each time a control switch is to be manipulated. Consequently, the player must wait for an opportunity, such as a rest or break in the succession of the music being played, which will permit him to remove a hand from the keyboard before he can manipulate a control switch, whereby the rendition of the music is subject to a restriction.

In some types of electronic musical instruments, there are provided control devices to be operated by the right knee for rendering the sustain effect, which among the various effects can normally be expected to be needed with the greatest frequency during musical renditions. More specifically, each of these control devices which are commonly called knee levers is pressed toward the right with the right knee to switch on the sustain effect, and when the right knee is returned to the left, the lever also 3,499,094 Patented Mar. 3, 1970 returns, and the sustain effect becomes off. In each of these types of instruments, however, the control switches for the remaining effects are also mounted on a panel and cannot be manipulated as desired at any time during a musical rendition.

As examples, of similar devices, there are control devices operated with right knee for swell control (volume control) in reed organs, but these devices are provided at the knee position for reasons of expediency and do not solve the problem of busy activity required of the player.

Thus, although electronic musical instruments known heretofore have been provided with means for generating an abundant variety of musical effects, these effects could not be fully rendered because their means could not be operated at will at any time during a musical rendition.

It is an object of the present invention to provide, in an electronic musical instrument, an effect selector system whereby any of the musical effects can be put into operation at any time and only at desired time during the playing of the instrument thereby to render and utilize fully these effects.

Another object of the invention is to provide an effect selector system of the above stated character which is of simple composition and arrangement and of simple operation.

According to the present invention, briefly summarized, there is provided a musical effect selector system in an electronic musical instrument, the system being a combination of a plurality of effect circuits for generating respective musical effects, knob-operated devices including first control elements in respective effect circuits for controlling their respective musical effects, a single knee-operated device including second control elements in respective effect circuits for controlling their respective musical effects, and a plurality of changeover switches associated with respective effect circuits and with the first and the second control elements for selecting which of the two control elements to be coupled to respective effect circuits, whereby any of the musical effects can be momentarily controlled by the knee-operated device and any other by semi-permanently controlled by the knoboperated devices respectively.

The nature, principle, and details of the invention, as well as the utility thereof, will be more clearly apparent from the following detailed description with respect to preferred embodiments of the invention when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like parts are designated by like reference numerals.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the front of an example of an electronic musical instrument in which an embodiment of the invention is applied and showing an example of positional arrangement of a knee lever and switch actuating devices;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram indicating one example of the composition and arrangement of an electronic musical instrument incorporating an effect selector system embodying the invention;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram, similar to FIG. 2, showing another example of an effect selector system embodying the invention;

FIG. 4 is a circuit diagram showing one example of composition and arrangement of a vibrato control sec- 3 tion suitable for use in the systems illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3;

FIG. 5 is a circuit diagram showing one example of a sustain control section suitable for use in the systems of FIGS. 2 and 3; and

FIG. 6 is a circuit diagram showing an example of a reverberation control section with related circuits suitable for use in the systems of FIGS. 2 and 3.

Referring first to FIG. 2, there is diagrammatically illustrated an electronic musical instrument having three musical effect sections, namely, vibrato, sustain, and reverberation sections, and incorporating an effect selector system according to the invention. These three effect sections may be operated by a knee lever 51 positioned to be moved left or right with the right knee of the player and intercoupled to a variable resistor 31 in the vibrato section, a switch 32 in the sustain section, and a switch 33 in the reverberation section.

Alternatively, these effect sections are operated by manual manipulation of knobs on a control panel in the ordinary manner. A variable resistor 41 and a switch 43 are provided respectively in the vibrato and reverberation sections for controlling their respective musical effects when these sections are to be operated by means of the knobs instead of the knee lever 51. A variable resistor 42 is provided in the sustain section for controlling the decay time of the sustain effect when the knee lever is to be used. Selector switches 21, 22, and 23 are respectively provided in the vibrato, sustain, and reverberation sections for switching over their respective musical effects from knob operation to knee lever operaton.

The knee lever 51 and the manipulable means such as keys and knobs for actuating the switches 21, 22, 23, and 43 and variable resistors 41 and 42 are respectively mounted on panels 26 and 24 of an actual electronic musical instrument as illustrated by one example of dispositional arrangement in FIG. 1.

Referring again to FIG. 2, theelectronic musical instrument, generally described, comprises: a vibrato generator 10 and tone generators 11 interconnected by the combination of the variable resistors 31 and 41 and change-over switch 21 to constitute the vibrato section; keying circuits 12 connected to keyboards 13 and to the combination of the switches 22 and variable resistor 42; tone coloring filters 14; an amplifier 15; an expression control 17; a power amplifier 18; loudspeaker 19; and a reverberation section consisting of a reverberation circuit 16 and a combination of change-over switches 23, 33 and 43. The switches 21, 22, and 23 are selector switches respectively for vibrato, sustain, and reverberation control.

The electronic musical instrument illustrated in FIG. 3 differs from that illustrated in FIG. 2 only in the use of ganged switches 61, 62, and 63 substituted for independently operated switches 21, 22, and 23 shown in FIG. 2. In all other respects the two instruments are the same, and same parts are designated by the same reference numerals in FIGS. 2 and 3.

The invention will now be described with respect to the embodiment thereof as illustrated in FIG. 2 and, for the sake of convenience, by considering the instrument in the three sections as illustrated in FIGS. 4, 5, and 6.

In the vibrato control section illustrated in FIG. 4, the vibrato generator 10 is a vibrato signal oscillator, and the tone generators 11 are tone source oscillators (of plural number but represented in FIG. 4 by a single circuit). As mentioned hereinbefore, the variable resistor 31 is coupled to the knee lever 51. The variable resistor 41 is for controlling vibrato depth and is actuated by a manually operated control device mounted on the panel 24 shown in FIG. 1, and the selector switch 21, which is operated by a control device mounted on the panel 26, which selectively changes over control of vibrato depth between knob control by means of variable resistor 41 and knee control by means of knee lever 51.

When the movable contact of the selector switch 21 is in contact with the stationary contact 21a, the signal from the vibrato signal oscillator 10 is suitably controlled by the knob-operated variable resistor 41 and is then applied to the bases of transistors in the tone source oscillators 11 of Hartley type to frequency modulate the tone source oscillation signal. In this case, the depth of vibrato effect cannot be varied by operating the knee lever 51 to move the movable element of the variable resistor 31.

On the other hand, when the movable contact of the selector switch 21 is in contact with the contact 21b, the vibrato signal is controlled by the variable resistor 31 coupled to the knee lever 51 and is applied similarly as above to the bases of the transistors of the tone source oscillator circuits 11 to be frequency modulated. That is, even when the instrument is being played by the player using both hands and both feet, the vibrato depth can be controlled by operating the knee lever with the right knee.

In the sustain control section shown in FIG. 5, the circuit designated by reference numeral is one representative circuit of the plurality of keying circuits 12 (FIG. 2 or 3) and includes an NPN transistor 52. This circuit is further provided with a signal input terminal 53, a signal output terminal 54, resistors 64 and 65 for voltage dividing the input signal from the tone source oscillator 11 (FIG. 2 or 3) and applying the resulting signal to the base side 77 of the transistor 52, a load resistor 66 for leading out the output, a stabilizing resistor 67, a combination of resistors 68 and 69 and a capacitor 70 for determining the envelope decay time, a diode 71 to operate cooperatively with the aforementioned variable resistor 42 to control the decay time, a key switch 72 for controlling this keying circuit 60, and a resistor 73 for limiting the current discharged by the capacitor 70 at the instant the key switch 72 is closed.

The aforementioned selector switch 22 is actuated by a manually operably control device mounted on the panel 26 of the instrument for selectively determining whether or not the on-off switching of the sustain effect is accomplished by means for the knee lever 51. As mentioned before, the switch 32 is coupled to the knee lever 51.

The above described circuit is provided with a ground terminal 74 and power source terminals 75 and 76 to which are applied potentials which are negative relative to the potential of the ground terminal 74. The potential of the terminal 76 is negatively higher than that of the terminal 75, and the potential of the terminal 75 is slightly positive relative to the maximum instantaneous (positive side peak) voltage of the base 77 of the transistor 52.

With the key switch 72 in the closed state, the potential of the junction 79 between the resistors 68 and 69 is lower (more negative) than the potential of the anode side of the diode 71 when any of the following three states exists:

(1) When the selector switch 22 is closed on the side of its contact 22a;

(2) When the selector switch 22 is closed on the side of its contact 22b, and the switch 32 is closed on the side of its contact 32a; and

(3) When the selector switch 22 is closed on the side of its contact 22b, the switch 32 is closed on the side of its contact 32b, and the movable element 78 of the variable resistor 42 is positioned on the side of the terminal 75.

With the circuit in the above described state wherein the potential of the junction 79 is lower (more negative) than the potential of the anode side 80 of the diode 71, voltage is applied in the forward direction to the diode 71, which is thereby in the conductive state.

When, with the circuit in this state, the key switch 72 is opened, the potential of the capacitor 70 is abruptly raised (positively) for the most part through the forward direction resistance of the resistor 68 and diode 71, and the charging of the capacitor 70 is then completed. Accordingly, the potential of junction 81 between capacitor 70 and resistor 68 changes from the potential of terminal 76 to that of terminal 75. With the circuit in this state, the maximum instantaneous voltage of the base 77 of the transistor 52 becomes lower than the potential of the junction '81, that is, lower than the potential of the emitter 82 of the transistor 52, which is then in the cut-off or non-conducting state, and no signal appears at the output terminal 54.

When the selector switch is closed on the side of its contact 22b, the switch 32 is closed on the side of its contact 32b, and the movable element 78 of the variable resistor 42 is placed on the side of terminal 76, the potentials of the junction 79 and the movable element 78 become such that voltage is applied in the reverse direction to the diode 71 to bias non-conductive. The charge in the capacitor is gradually raised (positively) for the most part through resistors 66 and 67, transistor 52, and resistors 68 and 69, whereby the signal at output terminal 54 gradually attenuates, the resistor 69 having substantially high resistance value such as, for example, 500 kiloohms.

When, in the case when the switches 22 and 23 are respectively on the sides of contacts 22b and 23b, and the movable element 78 of the variable resistor 42 is in the vicinity of the middle part of the resistor, the key switch 72 is opened (switched from ON to OFF), a voltage is applied in the forward direction to the diode 71 during the initial period. However, as the potential of the capacitor 70 is raised, the potential of the junction 79 is increased until it exceeds the potential of the anode side 80 of the diode 71. From this instant the diode 71 is subjected to a voltage in the reverse direction to be substantially non-conducting. The total charging time of the capacitor 70 becomes intermediate between those mentioned above, and the decay time of the output signal also becomes intermediate.

Thus, it will be apparent from the operation as described above that, by placing the selector switch 22 on the side of contact 22b and presetting the movable element 78 of the variable resistor 42 so as to produce a suitable decay time before hand, a desired sustain effect can be obtained at any time by actuating the knee lever 51 with the right knee while the instrument is being played. When the selector switch 22 is placed on the side of contact 22a, the sustain effect is switched off irrespective of the operation of the switch 32 and variable resistor 42.

In the reverberation control section as shown in FIG. 6, a reverberation device 92 such as of the coil spring type is driven by an amplifier 91 to produce its reverberated output signal which is amplified by an amplifier 93. The aforementioned tone filters 14 are connected on their output side to the amplifier 15 and amplifier 91 to send tone signals thereto.

The selective change over to determine whether the ON-OFF operation of the reverberation effect is to be carried out with the knee lever 51 or with the manual switch 43 is accomplished by the selector switch 23. When this switch is closed on the side of its contact 23a, the reverberation signal amplified by amplifier 93 is controlled by the ON-OFF operation of the manual switch 43 mounted on the panel 26.

On the other hand, when the selector switch 23 is closed on the side of contact 23b, the reverberation signal is controlled by the ON-OFF operation of the switch 33 coupled to the knee lever 51 and is mixed by resistors 94 and 95 with the signal which has been amplified by the amplifier 15 and has not passed through the reverberation circuit, the resulting mixed signal being then introduced into the expression control 17.

While the individual operations of the three musical effect sections have been described above, the simultaneous operation thereof also is possible; When two switches (for example, 21 and 22) of the selector switches 21, 22, and 23 are simultaneously closed to the kneeoperation sides, two effects (i.e., vibrato and sustain) are subjected to the momentary control by the knee lever, the rest effect (i.e., reverberation) being left subjected to the semi-permanent control by the knob and free from (not being interrupted by) the knee control.

Then, if the selector switches 21, 22, and 23 are replaced by ganged switches 61, 62, and 63 of successive changeover type such as rotary switches as indicated in FIG. 3, only one musical effect is controlled at one time by the knee lever 51, the rest being controlled by the knobs in the panel. More specifically, when the ganged switches 61, 62, and 63 are at position 1, the knee lever 51 is not related to any of the musical effects, and when these ganged switches are at positions 2, 3, and 4, the knee lever 51 is made ready to control, respectively, only the vibrato effect, only the sustain effect, and only the reverberation effect.

As described above, the present invention provides, in an electronic musical instrument having means for respectively generating a plurality of musical effects, an effect selector system wherein the respective musical effects are controlled either by the knee lever or by the knob according to the selection of the player. When a musical effect is selected to be under the knee control, the effect can be rendered momentarily operative or nonoperative at will at any time in the very midst of the music performance, even though both hands and both feet are occupied. In addition, when a musical effect is selected to be under the knob control in the panel, the effect is rendered semi-permanently operative or nonoperative irrespective of the control of the knee lever for other effects. By selecting either of the two controlling ways, the various musical effects of the electronic musical instrument can be fully rendered and utilized.

While the present invention has been described with respect to embodiments thereof having means to generate three musical effects, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the present invention can be applied with equal facility and effectiveness to the selective control of any plural number of musical effects in electronic musical instruments.

It should be understood, therefore, that the foregoing disclosure relates to only preferred embodiments of the invention and that it is intended to cover all changes and modifications of the examples of the invention herein chosen for the purposes of the disclosure, which do not constitute departures from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. In an electronic musical instrument, a musical effect selector system comprising, in combination, a plurality of effect circuits for generating respective musical effects, knob-operated control devices for respectively rendering effect circuits operative when actuated, a single knee-operated device capable of controlling the effect circuits, and a plurality of switches for establishing and terminating the control relationship between the kneeoperated device and each of the effect circuits thereby to select at least one musical effect to be controllably rendered by the operation of the knee-operated device, and selector switches associated with respective effect circuits and each selecting either a semi-permanent control of the effect by said knob-operated control devices or a momentary control of the same by said knee-operated device.

2. The musical effect selector system as claimed in claim 1 in which the switches are controllably operated by manipulable mechanical devices mounted on at least one panel of the electronic musical instrument.

3. The musical effect selector system as claimed in claim 1 in which the switches are of the changeover type associated with respective effect circuits and with said knob-operated control devices and said knee-operated device for selecting the respective type of con- 7 trol desired, whereby each musical effect can be rendered at one time by the knee-operated device.

4. The musical effect selector system as claimed in claim 1 in which the effect circuits include those for generating at least a vibrato effect, a sustain effect, and a reverberation elfect.

5. The musical effect selector system as claimed in claim 3 in which the eifect circuits include those for generating at least a vibrato effect, a sustain eifect, and a reverberation effect.

8 References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 6/1967 Slaats 84l.24

US. Cl. X.R. 

